BlizzCon 2011: New WoW expansion, free Diablo III, WoW Annual Pass

It’s an exciting time for gamers the world over, with BlizzCon 2011 kicking into full swing. Blizzard Entertainment’s got a history of making exciting announcements and unveiling new products at their annual convention, and this year, they didn’t disappoint. First up, there’s a new expansion coming for their unfathomably popular title, World of Warcraft.

Titled The Mists of Pandaria, the expansion brings players to an area of Azeroth they’ve wanted to see ever since Warcraft II: to the mysterious nation of Pandaria. This expansion will feature a new race (The Pandaren), a new class (The Monk – no word on whether or not it’ll be the game’s second heroic class quite yet), a pet battle system, a new talent system, an increased level cap (from 85 to 90), and a whole new continent to explore. More details can be found here, and a load of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria screenshots can be viewed in our image gallery.

Moving on, Blizzard also had a few announcements to make about the much-anticipated Diablo III. Those of you who play WoW, listen up – I think you’ll like this. First, Blizzard announced a new means of paying for World of Warcraft, titled the Annual Pass, a yearly subscription that can either be paid on a monthly basis or in a lump sum.

The developer followed this up with a very, very exciting announcement – if you sign up for an annual pass, you’ll receive guaranteed access into the Mists of Pandaria beta and an exclusive in-game mount called Tyriel’s Charger. You’ll also receive Diablo III... completely free of charge.

Finally, as reported by GameInformer, we’ve a few more details on what sort of swag you’ll get if you purchase the Diablo III Collector’s Edition –and it’s awesome. If you purchase the Collector’s Edition, you’ll receive an artbook, the soundtrack, a behind-the-scenes Blu-ray disc, a replica of Diablo’s skull, and a four gigabyte memory stick designed to look like a Soulstone. Oh, and you’ll also receive a plethora of in-game items for Diablo III, WoW, and Starcraft II. All in all, a pretty sweet package, no?

That’s all for now. Blizzcon’s going to be going on for a couple more days, so I’m sure there’ll be more news to report in short order.

A gamer at heart, Nick started writing when he was a child. He holds a BA in English, works as a freelancer, and loves every minute of it. One day, he hopes to net himself a career in game design - but that's something for the future.

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